With the publication of new proposed regulations, good progress has been made in the reform of minimum distribution requirements for retirement plans, but further enhancement and simplification are possible. This article provides a brief intellectual and political history of recent reform discussions and suggestions leading up to the IRS proposal. It then reviews the proposed regulation and analyzes the winners and those not affected by the changes. Finally, the article suggests two sets of further enhancements: narrow-scope regulatory improvements building directly on the IRS proposal, and broad simplification.
